Tuesday, May 8, 2012

How do you like to dress it up?


Considering that we have about 600 lettuces growing, I thought it was time to splurge on some new salad dressings from Trader Joes and look up some new recipes for homemade dressings. After all, lettuce is just a base for a salad. It is the dressing, other veggies, and fruits/nuts that make it a fun meal!

As a teenager, I used to eat my salad plain because I thought dressing took away from the taste of the lettuce. I looked at other people using dressing on their salads and wondered why were they drowning their delicious veggies. At that time, I only knew about Ranch, Italian, Thousand Island, and French dressings. Things changed when I was introduced to vinaigrette salad dressings. For me, vinaigrettes seem to enhance the flavors of the lettuce and not drown it. Then, I had a friend introduce me to Trader Joe's dressings and I loved those too. They have great flavor choices and no artificial ingredients. After that, I started experimenting by making my own homemade salad dressings.

Check out the following list of 102 recipes for healthy, homemade dressings for your salads. This list was compiled by a fellow blogger who writes "Cheap Healthy Good." In her words, "Now, go forth and eat salad!"

Asian-inspired Dressings
Cooking Light: Ginger-Sesame Vinaigrette
Epicurious: Spicy Vietnamese Dressing
Mayo Clinic: Ginger-Miso Dressing
Recipe Zaar: Asian Ginger Dressing

Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressings
Cooking Light: Balsamic Vinaigrette
Maple Balsamic Vinaigrette
Serious Eats: Light Balsamic Vinaigrette

Blue Cheese Dressings
All Recipes/Taste of Home: Low-Fat Blue Cheese Dressing
Cooking Light: Blue Cheese Salad Dressing
Cooking Light: Blue Cheese-Buttermilk Dressing
Eating Well: Creamy Blue Cheese Dressing
Epicurious: Blue Cheese Dressing

Buttermilk Dressings
Epicurious: Buttermilk Dressing
Mayo Clinic: Buttermilk Dressing
Recipe Zaar: Cayenne Buttermilk Dressing

Caesar Dressings
Alton Brown: No Guilt Caesar Dressing
Cooking Light: Caesar Dressing
Cooking Light: Creamy Caesar Dressing
Eating Well: Caesar Salad Dressing

Curry Dressings
All Recipes/USA Weekend: Non-Fat Curry Dressing
Epicurious: Curry Dressing
King County: Curry Dressing

French Dressings
CD Kitchen: Low-Calorie French Dressing
Eating Well: French Dressing
Recipe Zaar: Makeover Creamy French Dressing

Fruit-based Dressings
All Recipes: Orange Vinaigrette
All Recipes: Raspberry Vinaigrette
Cooking Light: Citrus Vinaigrette
Cooking Light: Cranberry Vinaigrette
Cooking Light: Vanilla-Pear Vinaigrette
Dottie’s Weight Loss Zone: Ginger Orange Dressing
Dottie’s Weight Loss Zone: Raspberry Vinegar Dressing
Dottie’s Weight Loss Zone: Garlic-Lemon Dressing
Eating Well: Moroccan-Spiced Lemon Dressing
Eating Well: Orange-Oregano Dressing
Eating Well: Orange-Sesame Dressing
Ellie Krieger: Apple Cider Dressing
Epicurious: Creamy Lemon Dressing
Epicurious: Creamy Mango Dressing
Epicurious: Grapefruit-Ginger Dressing
Epicurious: Tangerine Dressing
Recipe Zaar: Honey Lime Dressing
Recipe Zaar: Lemon, Orange, and Dill Salad Dressing
Recipe Zaar: Lemon Yogurt Vinaigrette
Recipe Zaar: Orange Honey Vinaigrette
Recipe Zaar: Strawberry Vinaigrette

Green Goddess Dressings
Cooking Light: Green Goddess Dressing
Epicurious: Green Goddess Dressing
Recipe Zaar: Green Goddess Salad Dressing

Herb-based Dressings
Dottie’s Weight Loss Zone: Basil Vinaigrette
Dottie’s Weight Loss Zone: Creamy Herb Dressing
Eating Well: Creamy Tarragon Dressing
Epicurious: Creamy Basil Dressing
Epicurious: Mint Dressing
Recipe Zaar: Dijon Herb Dressing

Honey Mustard & Mustard Dressings
All Recipes: Mustard Salad Dressing
Alton Brown: Honey Mustard Dressing
Cooking Light: Creole Honey Mustard Dressing
Cooking Light: Dijon Vinaigrette
Cooking Light: Honeyed Lemon-Dijon Vinaigrette
Dottie’s Weight Loss Zone: Honey-Mustard Dressing
Epicurious: Honey-Mustard Dressing
Kathleen Daeleman: Mustard Vinaigrette
Recipe Zaar: Creamy Mustard Dressing

Italian Dressings
All Recipes: Italian Dressing Mix
Juan Carlos Cruz: Creamy Italian Dressing
Recipe Zaar: Creamy Italian Dressing
Recipe Zaar: Italian Dressing

Poppy Seed Dressings
Cooks Recipes: Honey Poppy Seed Dressing
Dottie’s Weight Loss Zone: Poppy Seed Dressing
Recipe Zaar: Lowfat Poppyseed Dressing
Russian Dressings
Eating Well: Russian Dressing
Geocities: Russian Dressing – Low-Fat
Geocities: Russian Dressing Lo-Cal

Ranch Dressings
All Recipe/Taste of Home: Low-Fat Ranch Dressing
Cooking Light: Ranch Dressing
Eating Well: Buttermilk Ranch Dressing
Eating Well: Creamy Dill Ranch Dressing
Ellie Krieger: Ranch Dressing
Epicurious: Low-Fat Herbed Ranch Dressing
Recipe Zaar: Creamy Ranch Dressing
Recipe Zaar: Healthy Homemade Ranch Dressing
Recipe Zaar: Ranch Dressing

Thousand Island Dressings
Cooking Light: Thousand Island Dressing
Epicurious: Low-Fat Thousand Island Dressing
Recipe Zaar: Extreme Low-Fat Thousand Island Dressing
Sara Moulton: Low Fat Thousand Island Dressing

Vegetable-based Dressings
Cooking Light: Roasted Shallot Vinaigrette
Cooking Light: Sun-Dried Tomato Vinaigrette
Dottie’s Weight Loss Zone: Creamy Garlic and Chive Dressing
Dottie’s Weight Loss Zone: Fresh Tomato Vinaigrette
Epicurious: Creamy Chive Dressing
Recipe Zaar: Creamy Cucumber Dressing
Recipe Zaar: Onion Garlic Low Cal Salad Dressing

Other Dressings
Cooking Light: Honey Vinaigrette
Dottie’s Weight Loss Zone: Basic Vinaigrette
Eating Well: Creamy Feta Dressing
Eating Well: Warm Maple Dressing
Ellie Krieger: Greek Dressing
Epicurious: Tamarind Dressing
Epicurious: Tasty Diet Dressing
Recipe Zaar: Golden Middle-East Dressing


No comments:

Post a Comment